1. Lojong Makes Your Mind So Happy

The Motivation for Studying Lojong

Study[1] [these teachings] with a proper motivation and with the best motivation, that of bodhichitta, so that studying them becomes the path to achieve buddhahood and, not only that, that it becomes a cause of the happiness of all sentient beings, not only of their temporary happiness but of the peerless happiness of buddhahood, that is, that it becomes a cause for all sentient beings to achieve buddhahood.

If you study the teachings with a bodhichitta motivation, even if you don’t have the realization of bodhichitta and instead have an effortful motivation of bodhichitta, it becomes a cause of the happiness of every sentient being, for example, of every single animal—every single fish and creature living in the water, those that are the size of mountains and the smallest ones whose name I don’t remember, as well all the numberless animals living under the ground, in the bushes, in the grass, in the trees, and flying in the sky—and also the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, human beings, asuras, and suras. Bodhichitta is what makes your life the most beneficial for all sentient beings and what makes your life the happiest and the best. Therefore, think:

The purpose of my life is not just to achieve happiness for myself but to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to full enlightenment, peerless happiness, the cessation of obscurations and completion of realizations, sanggye,[2] by myself alone. To do that, I myself must first achieve the state of omniscience. Therefore, I’m going to study these teachings on lojong, thought transformation.”[3]


[1] The original word “listen” used in the context of an oral teaching has been changed to “study” in this paragraph.
[2] Tib. sangs rgyas. Lama Zopa Rinpoche translates the meaning of sangs (purify or cleanse) as “the cessation of obscurations,” and the meaning of rgyas (increase or develop) as “the completion of realizations.”
[3] Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave these teachings in the context of giving the oral transmission, or lung, of Namkha Pal’s Mind Training Like the Rays of the Sun, which is a commentary to Kadampa Geshe Chekawa’s Seven Points of Thought Transformation. Therefore, Rinpoche actually said: “Therefore, I’m going to take the lung on the commentary to Seven Points of Thought Transformation.”

Colophon
These teachings were given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Root Institute, Bodhgaya, February 5th, 2017. Transcribed from the audio recording by Ven. Ailsa Cameron, June 2017. Lightly edited by Ven. Joan Nicell, FPMT Education Services, August 2017.